Letter From The Publisher

This is Below the Line’s first morning email in a while. It’s been a roller-coaster ride for us, but starting tomorrow, our popular morning newsletter will be back.

Editorially, we’ve had some time to rethink both what we want to cover and how we want to deliver news to the working crews, and more importantly, the voting craftspeople Below the Line was designed for in the first place.

In that spirit, we’re going to return to our roots by spending more time focusing on what’s most important to all of you – jobs!

It’s easy to talk about the latest camera, or Adobe’s expansion of facilities, or trends in makeup and hair in the digital age. That’s all good and well, but if we do that non-stop, we won’t help anyone find their next show.

The industry is built on a transient, freelance workforce, like no other industry in the world. In this industry, sex-and-sizzle sells, but dedication and discipline carries the day.

We are returning to the days of discussing if you should sell or rent your house in Los Angeles while you chase the latest incentive around the country, and in some cases, around the world.

Is it a good time to hop over to Galpin to pick up that new work truck you’ve been wanting for a couple of years or should you hoard every cent for whatever coming storm will hit in the New Year? Can you survive on the IA Home Plan or just keep things as they are? Is it time to think about retirement or push on while you can?

We are rededicating ourselves to these and bigger questions, like where will the work be in 2019? What are the trends for desired skills? Is it a Marvel world, dominated by animators and special effects artists, or is it time to get back to the roots of storytelling where every second the camera is on, the core crafts of cinematography, sound, makeup, hair, art, editing and costume must shine?

In recent weeks, I’ve meet with almost all of LA’s Union leadership and while they whole-heartedly agree with our plan, they also made it clear that we must continue to cover the accolades and accomplishments of their membership, something that has always been one of our core strengths.

In addition to recognizing the tremendous accomplishments of the working crew, Below the Line MUST return to its rightful position of the most trusted Production Listings in the industry and the world.

We know we can do better and we will!

Our eyes are your eyes. What we write has to be a reflection of your stories. So tell us, what are we missing that we need to cover? We want to hear from you – please send any rants and raves to our Support email address (support@btlnews.com) with the subject line “What I want to see in BTL.”

If you find problems in our site, broken links, out-of-date info, or things you think we need to improve on, please go here. The Ticket system is the best way of tracking your concerns and requests.

Help us separate the above-the-line noise of the day from the all-too-often overlooked “Voice of the Crew.” Your voice, your opinion, your eyes and your continuing support is what drives Below the Line and its various subsidiaries.